Beavers' season stopped at the 1

Steubenville gave Beaver Local its first loss -- in the Division III playoffs.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- A dazed Beaver Local High football coach Rich Wright didn't have many answers following the Beavers' 28-21 loss to Steubenville in a Division III regional semifinal Friday at Falcon Stadium.
He only said that the Beavers came up just short. One-yard short to be exact when Jake Robinson was tackled at the Steubenville 1-yard line as the final five ticks of the clock ran out before Wright's team could run another play.
Robinson caught a slant pass from quarterback Steve Mercer and maneuvered nine of the necessary 10 yards to the potentially tying or winning points.
Yard shy
One yard was all that kept the Beavers (11-1) from an possible upset of undefeated Steubenville.
"It hurts real bad," Wright said following the loss. "We had a great opportunity.
"We played hard enough to win," he added. "We were definitely physical enough to beat those guys. We just came up short."
Beaver Local rallied from a 20-7 fourth-quarter deficit to score two touchdowns and take a 21-20 lead with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left in the game.
Robinson scored on a 1-yard run and Adam Hoppel picked up a fumble by Steubenville's Nate Hubbard and ran 47 yards for the go-ahead score.
Steubenville quickly showed why it is one of the premier teams in Division III as Hubbard got a second chance to atone for his mistake and the senior tailback helped Big Red regain the lead.
Hubbard carried four of the five Steubenville plays in a 47-yard drive and scored on an 11-yard run with 2:44 to play. Hubbard also tacked on the two-point conversion, which gave Steubenville a 28-21 lead.
Top gainer
Hubbard finished as the game's leading rusher with 187 yards on 28 carries.
Beaver Local took over on its own 25 with 2:36 left and nearly marched to a tying touchdown in eight plays before Robinson was gang-tackled on the 1-yard line.
"We had too many mistakes early," Wright said. "We had some opportunities and either had a penalty or turnover and you can't do that against a team like Big Red and win the game."
The Beavers turned the ball over three times and were penalized in several critical situations.
Perhaps the key series came late in the third period when Beaver Local trailed 12-7.
With a first down on the Steubenville 5, the Beavers had two 5-yard penalties and then Robinson was sacked attempting to pass. The play was ruled a fumble that was recovered by Big Red's Scott Kennedy.
Steubenville turned the turnover into points six plays later when Dave Fatula scored on a 54-yard pass play from quarterback Steve Repella.
In the first half, Steubenville scored on a pair of 1-yard runs by back-up quarterback Antonio Magnone.
Regret
Beaver Local scored in the first period on a 5-yard run by West Virginia recruit Hoppel.
"I thought we represented ourselves well," Wright said. "I'm proud of these kids, I know our community is, but I wish I would have done a better job in the two minutes at the end of the game."
Beaver Local tailback Josh Pastore rushed for 158 yards on 18 carries and Hoppel added 76 yards on 16 carries.